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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Agriculture blooming on initiatives galore by K Balchand

Agriculture blooming on initiatives galore by K Balchand

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published Published on Jul 10, 2011   modified Modified on Jul 10, 2011

India registered a good 8.5 percent GDP growth in 2010-11 staving off the global impact of recession mainly due to the major recovery in the agriculture sector. The recorded foodgrain production in 2010-11 was the outcome of the initiatives of the state governments, the union government has now acknowledged.

It was an innovation's galore to say the least if one takes into consideration the efforts of the 10 states that went on to bag the inaugural Krishi Karman awards for 2010-11. The states to receive the awards on August 16 include Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Assam, Orissa, Tripura, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Karnataka.

The performance of some of these states, within a span of just one year, has been phenomenal as the farm sector recovered from a negative (-0.1) percent growth rate in 2008-09, managed a low 0.4 percent growth in 2009-10 to clock a good 5.4 percent growth rate in 2010-11.

If agriculture is blooming due to these initiatives, the credit goes mostly to the states, irrespective of the centre's role.

Uttar Pradesh recorded an increase of 11.4 percent in its total production of 475.52 lakh tonnes of foodgrain during 2010-11 over the 431.95 lakh tonnes the previous year by concentrating on the low productivity of the eastern region, promoting efficient water management practices in the drought prone Bundelkhand region and resorting to line-sowing of wheat in these regions.

The state's efforts at mechanisation of tilling seed drills for agriculture operations, use of hybrid seeds for rice and massive intercropping of pulses especially urad with sugarcane, jowar and bajra, helped increase rice output by 11.4 percent, wheat by 9.6 percent and pulses by 18.6 percent. Punjab's record output of 278.9 lakh tonnes was the result of the conservation of irrigation water through laser land levelling and zero tillage and through legislation. This ensured timely transplantation of paddy and the use of community underground pipeline systems.

Assam performed stupendously by increasing its foodgrain output by a whopping 45 percent over a period of five years from 36.78 lakh tonnes in 2005-06 to 52.31 lakh tonnes in 2010-11 and increased its productivity by a phenomenal 200 percent from 659 kg per hectare to 1, 868 kg per hectare.

Assam not only increased its crop area over this five year period, but also its cropping intensity from 137 percent to 154 percent during these five years, owing to the creation of assured irrigation to additional 2.2 lakh hectares and acidic soil health management.

Another north eastern state, Tripura, too increased its farm output by a good 25 percent from 5.13 lakh tonnes in 2001-02 to 6.40 lakh tonnes in 2009-10 through area expansion, installation of shallow tube wells with motors or with submersible pumps and popularisation of short duration high yielding varieties of rice suitable to different agro-climatic situations.

If you thought Chhattisgarh is all about Naxalite-police encounters and rural discord, consider these astounding facts. It increased its foodgrain output by almost 45 percent within a year's time from 49.03 lakh tonnes to 70.96 lakh tonnes in 2010-11 and rice production by almost 50 percent from 41.10 lakh tonnes to 61.59 lakh tonnes in 2010-11.

The state assured irrigation to additional 80, 000 hectares, protective irrigation to additional 1.7 lakh hectares and ground water recharging through micro tanks and check dams.

To encourage consolidation of land, the government did away with stamp duty, provided crop loan at 3 percent per annum through cooperatives and extended land banks to nearly eight lakh farmers and exempted VAT on agricultural implements.

Rajasthan increased pulse output by as much as 150 percent in just one year . It also increased the productivity of gram and moong by 34 percent and 126 percent over the past five years through a series of initiatives optimising water utilisation through construction of tanks and doggies, use of solar based pump sets for irrigation and execution of Golden Rays in Tribal, Saharia and Mada area on PPP mode.

The Hindu, 10 July, 2011, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article2215285.ece


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